Plant Life Prospers: Alarmists Complain about Pollen

Published July 1, 2013

Global warming is delivering multi-faceted benefits to plant life yet global warming alarmists are doing their best to make the worst of the situation. USA Today, CNN, and many other prominent news outlets have recently published stories focusing negative attention on enhanced plant growth because prospering plant life can be an asthma trigger.

Gradually rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are directly benefiting plant life. Carbon dioxide serves as aerial fertilizer, enhancing plant growth and crop production. At the same time, gradually warming temperatures have extended growing seasons, which further benefits plant life. As a result, crop production sets new records almost every year, deserts are shrinking around the world, and forests, grasslands, and other ecosystems are experiencing denser vegetation. All of these developments bring substantial environmental and human welfare benefits.

Doing their best to turn wine into vinegar, global warming alarmists and their media allies are ignoring the many benefits of enhanced plant life and instead crying woe about enhanced plant life causing more asthma.

Given a choice between (a) abundant plant life and crop production modestly tempered by more pollen in the air and (b) dwindling crop production and more sparse vegetation with a very thin silver lining of less pollen in the air, most people would likely choose scenario (a). Global warming alarmists, however, don’t want us to know scenario (a) even exists.